I see a privacy mob baying for more press coverage at what they perceive to be privacy breaches. The worried few will want so hard to become the worried many. But I really wonder how many of these few there actually are.
I regularly review the lists of data protection job vacancies, many of which refer to a requirement for candidates with legal qualifications. Far fewer job vacancies refer to the desirability that candidates should have practical experience of actually working with the data protection regulators, and developing solutions that make common sense, rather than simply met legal theory.
Is this a problem?
I think it is certainly turning into a problem.
Basically, a demand is being created for a type professional that currently does not exist in sufficient numbers. But nor do there appear to be any plans to increase the pool of potential candidates. Professional experience takes time to acquire. It’s much easier to obtain a professional legal “qualification”.
What will we be left with?
Perhaps, with a tiny cohort of highly paid data protection professionals. Hooray, if you are fortunate to be among that cohort, and you are lucky enough to find an employer who can afford your services.
But what about the other organisations that need professional assistance?
Especially, presumably the public sector, where salary caps are likely to act as a significant impediment to the career progression of anyone who has much knowledge of data protection. To whom will public officials turn for advice?
Is it right that we should expect to live in such a complicated world? Or would it be better if we all strived for a simpler set of data protection rules? And then we probably wouldn’t need to pay data protection professionals so much for the advice they struggle to provide.
Just think for a minute.
How many people would, really, notice the difference?
Image credit:
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/07/the-naked-world-of-spencer-tunick/100344/
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